Liveability was a hot topic during ResearchExpo, with Mackay's Dr Shane Hopkinson giving a presentation on a CQUniversity research study.

According to Dr Hopkinson, Liveability can be thought of as being about livelihood and about this being sustainable into the future.

Dr Shane HopkinsonDr Hopkinson said the study was undertaken by a team of researchers at CQUniversity for the local Regional Economic Development Corporation (REDC) to assist in understanding what could improve the quality of life in the region - and how we can get more people here to live and work.

"We looked at objective measures (like health stats) and subjective measures (asking people how they felt about the area) and asked 300 each in Mackay, Whitsunday and Isaac in Central Queensland and 300 in South-East Queensland," he said.

"We compiled an index which compared how liveable the region was and how liveable people thought it should be - as it will be these sorts of social factors which we now know will make regional development sustainable."

The study found that locals found the region very liveable (rating it about 54/100) but felt it should be about 15% better. It is seen as being safe and healthy with a great climate and easy to get around - though there were concerns about affordable housing, roads and the lack of a say in the direction of development.

Those in the South-East rated the area well too (about 46/100) but had higher expectations, fearing that perhaps there was high pollution and worried about whether schools and other facilities were accessible.

This data will provide a baseline for improving liveability and for developing plans for social infrastructure. It was made possible through our engagement with local communities, councils, and businesses.

The full report is on the REDC website and OECD has published the results in their newsletter at http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/24/0/43816301.pdf .